Presents
by vinegarette-kiss
Summary: 25 oneshots related to Christmas leading up to the day! Oneshot ideas will be taken from reviewers...4th one up CARD, Enjyu centered. So ppl, R&R please!
1. Snow: YamatoXGannos

Disclaimer: I don't own anything.

Well, since Christmas is coming up soon like in a month and a half so I'm doing 25 fluffy Chrissy oneshots dedicated to you guys!

What you guys need to do is review with the following

1) Character or Characters….

2) Friendship or Romance? Fluff? Drama? Humour? Angst?

3) One Chrissy related word and theme. It doesn't have to be traditional cos where I live Christmas is in the summer so…

Now all pairings are accepted so here's the code for pairings if you can't figure it out.

**Het: **Hetero, meaning GirlXBoy a.ka. BullXCarat, EnjyuXLienaXWen

**Shounen Ai:** Boy love, BoyXBoy a.k.a JoshuaXCain, EnjyuXGray, YamatoXTerry

**Shojo Ai:** Girl Love, GirlXGirl a.k.a LienaXMarilyn LienaXMei

**Beast:** Beastility, an animal paired with a human being, e.g. MeiXArmada, AkyurasXShin……

And here's one to get it all started, and just incase you still don't get the above here's what this oneshot would be like if one of you sent it on your review.

Character: Gannos, Yamato, Gray

Friendship or Romance: Gannos+Yamato, friendship fluff, mostly angst

Chrissy Word: Snow

Theme: Fight

SPOILER ALERT!! If you haven't seen at least the first episode of Season 2: Fire Spirits you may not want to read this. This contains Gannos, a new character introduced in Season 2, however this has nothing on his b-damon, or anything that happens in the show. Pure fiction using his personality and appearance.

AUTHOR'S NOTE: I know that it would probably never snow in Cowtoon as what I've seen of it seems to say it's in the middle of a desert, not the best location for snow. However in this it does snow so just imagine it's possible kay?

**Snow**

"IT'S ALL HIS FUCKIN FAULT! IF HE WASN'T SUCH A CLUMSY, IDIOTIC, MORONIC LOSER NOTHING WOULD'VE EVER HAPPENED!" Gannos shouted angrily pointing accusingly at Yamato who was equally furious. Liena who had been hoping to patch up the fight between the two and had asked Gannos what was wrong in the first place, rapidly took a step back.

"GEE, BLAME IT ALL ON ME WHY DONCHA?" Yamato shouted back, his face turning a crimson shade of red and Liena almost swore she saw steam coming out of his ears.

"WELL WHO ELSE'S FAULT IS IT THEN? COS IT SURE AS HELL AIN'T MINE!" Gannos retorted back, sticking out his tongue childishly. Sure it was childish, but the motion seemed to aggravate Yamato even more. It seemed that every time Gannos talked to him, he saw red. And right now, Yamato's whole vision was clouded by red.

"NOT YOURS! HELL, YOU HAVE THE NERVE TO TELL ME IT WASN'T YOUR FAULT? GOD, I'M SO DAMN SICK OF YOU! YOU KEEP BEING SUCH AN IMMATURE LITTLE BRAT! WHY DONCHA JUST FUCK OFF!" Panting at the end of his little rant, Yamato glared stubbornly and folded his arms. There was no way Gannos could back down anymore.

"WELL YA KNOW WHAT? I'LL DO JUST THAT AND NOT COS YOU JUST SAID SO EITHER, I'M TIRED OF THIS HELLHOLE ANYWAY." Gannos stormed off, but not before he heard Yamato give one last word of parting.

"YAH THINK YOU CAN JUST WALK AWAY WITHOUT A WORD OF THANKS TO YOUR HOSTS WHO ACTUALLY BOTHER TO PUT UP WITH YOU???"

Gannos didn't bother wasting his breath. He simply stuck up his right hand and flipped the enraged redhead off.

So now Gannos flung articles of clothing into the small rucksack in his room, still cooling off from his blow up with Yamato.

It's all his fault, he thought angrily shoving a pair of legwarmers into the bag. All his fault. If it wasn't cos Yamato was a stupid, inconsiderate, clumsy idiot nothing would've ever happened.

But even as he recited the words like a mantra again and again in his head he couldn't believe it. It sounded like a broken record, played over and over again until it became tiresome.

It was sort of his fault…. NO. NO IT WASN'T. It was all YAMATO's fault. He had to believe that, if he didn't that would mean he was to blame.

_"Hey Yamato! Watcha doing?" Gannos had jumped onto the counter and now lay down, head cocked to the side while being supported by his left arm._

_Yamato spared a look up and saw his grinning face. "Oi, go practice or something kay? This is really important and I need to concentrate alright Gannos?"_

He had been the one to arrive last and he had stayed even though Yamato had told him to go away. In fact Yamato had even said it politely instead of his usual, 'go away, you're bothering me brat.'

NO.

Yamato's fault for appearing first, yes that sounded right.

Yamato's fault for coming here, Yamato's fault for choosing to work around him, Yamato's fault for everything.

_"So watcha doin?" Eyes looked down at the shiny metallic parts around him and grinned enthusiastically. "Oh, you're fixing your b-damon. Hey how come I don't get a upgrade?" He pouted dramatically, it was unfair because Master Armada always favoured Yamato over EVERYONE else._

"_Cos shrimp, I'm da best that's why. And now can ya leave me alone now that you've found out what I'm doing?" _

"_Uh-uh." Gannos shook his head smirking. "That's not it." _

"_Then what wiseguy?" Yamato looked up from his work, irritated. _

"_Master Armada only gave you the upgrade cos out of all of us, you're b-damon's the oldest, so it's kinda like a rusted tin can." _

He had been the one who had started it…. but Yamato had been the one who had taken the bait so that was his fault as well. But the little voice in his head couldn't help say, you can't blame the fish for being caught by the fisherman can you?

_Blue eyes flashed accusingly. "Oi, are you trying to say my cobalt's trash compared to your measly piece of junk?" _

"_Hell yeah! Mine's a million times better than yours!"_

"_What makes you say that brat?" Yamato snarls defensively, no one insulted his b-damon and got away with it!_

"_Well for one my b-damon isn't being controlled by a idiot. I mean it obviously has better player cos you beat me by a inch with a strike shot when I was just using a measly b-da ball, so technically for all your bragging I won. Second-" _

"_Hey hang on! You can't prove that you won!" _

"_Yea I can, all those townspeople said so!" _

"_What do townspeople know about true power?!!" _

"_Who do ya think you are? Insulting townspeople like that!" _

"_You can talk about insulting people! And anyway those people probably have never picked up a rule book in their lives!" _

"_So? I never got a professional lesson in my life until I met you. You on the other hand had heaps of experiences and stuff with Master Armada and competing in the tournaments and you still lost to me when I was some random rookie!" _

_Gannos smirked at Yamato's boiling face and leaned over to scoop up the unfinished b-damon. "At least your b-damon makes up for the pathetic owner." _

"_Pathetic owner? Gimme a break! I mean if I was your b-damon I'd be dying to get away from your hands. And plus, you're still nothing but a random rookie who got lucky! You woulda never made it into the Winner's if you hadn't gotten that fluke and won the metal shot!" _

"_I'm no fluke!" Gannos shot back, feeling himself getting hotter with rage. _

"_Come on, you babble on and on and you're so pathetic! All you ever do is make excuses! I mean you're just a bunch of stupid excuses memorized from the guidebooks and rules!" That tipped the scales. Stupid excuses my foot! _

"_Excuses! Well, this is what I think of you and your pathetic b-damon!" Grasping the unfinished b-damon in one hand he threw it across the room, expecting Yamato to catch it or at the most for it to drop with a clunk to the floor. _

_The cobalt blue b-damon flew across the room and like a slow motion film Gannos realised something. Yamato was fixing it so that meant…….. His lavendar eyes widened and he lunged forward, only to find the b-damon fell right in front of him and then shattered, totally disassembling and a few pieces cracked. _

That was Yamato's fault too, for not catching it. Of course it was, it had to be.

It had to be…. right??

Right????

Oh, fuck all the pretending. He knew it was his fault. It was all bloody his fault.

It was just easier to pretend. In fact, he thought guiltily that was all he ever did, pretend. Pretend, lie, imagine, be creative that was all he was. And the worst thing was that he was such a hypocrite, he had often told Yamato that he had more bark than bite but with him he knew he was all bark.

He was such a fake. It was all his fault really, the added stress, more noise, extra food bills…. and yet he continued pretending day after day. It wasn't as if anyone really wanted him, he knew Terry just saw him as another idiot to feed and baby, Mei saw him as a extra employee, Enjyu simply saw him as the smarter version of Yamato a.k.a real annoyance with a actual brain, Liena was almost the same as Terry and then Gray.

He knew the blonde never liked him, ever since their first meeting. But that was okay, since he had never liked him much either. He hadn't known why he didn't like Gray but then he had realised it. It probably was because Yamato was his first proper friend, someone he could properly rely on not just someone who came and went at his or her own convenience. And Gray also happened to be Yamato's best friend. Because for the first time in his life, he felt like he belonged and he didn't want the feeling to end.

He didn't feel like a cheat, an unwanted child, an immature brat, a childish idiot who set out at the expense of his village to fulfil a stupid dream, instead he felt like he had a place at last and when Gray had come, he had felt threatened.

So again he had played pretend. He had smiled nicely, and upped his arguments with Yamato even more to the point where it was a daily occurance and people joked of betting when it would start and end. He hung around the others, stole food from Terry while he was cooking, annoyed Yamato to hell, even poked Enjyu just to get a reaction all to gain attention. He didn't want to become isolated again; he wanted to stay in the limelight for as long as possible.

Now however it looked like the show was over and he would be a nobody again. Sure someone might remember him no and again but who gave a damn? He didn't have a real home anymore, he had his village but could he really go back to being a normal 14-year old boy who was continually ignored and had to be annoying loudmouth to get attention?

Could he really forget everything about this place, Mei's Café, gluttonous Master Armada, mothering Terry, Bull the nutty mechanic, Liena the girl-next-door, the Yong Fa twins who did those real cool martial arts moves like out of some movie, Enjyu who had nearly castrated him after he had dyed his jumpsuit hot pink, the homely town of Cowtoon and all the other interesting places he had been… and most of all….Yamato.

He could feel the beginnings of tears at his eyes and he had to blink them back furiously. Yes, out of all the amazing people he had met, the one he was going to miss the most was the most idiotic, moronic, stubborn, meathead, of the lot but….he was also going to miss his idol, his best friend, team mate and the best damn person in the world he had ever met.

He was going to miss arguing over the last bit of pizza, pelting each other with dishwashing liquid and soapy suds on their waiter shifts, laughing as they ran away with Enjyu or Gray hot behind their trails for some juvenile prank, stealing food from a indignant Terry as his cheeks puffed out, battling until they were too tired to talk and just being with Yamato. Now the tears trailed down hopelessly on his cheek and he wiped at them furiously, real men didn't cry and he wouldn't either.

Out of all the times he had to be a brat he had to do it on the first day of December. On the month of celebration, the month that had Christmas in it! The season to be jolly, blah, blah, blah.

Not that he'd be doing much celebrating this Christmas. Sighing, he tied up his rucksack and opened the window. Climbing out of it so no one noticed, as he didn't really want a going away party to remind of how much he would miss this place he realised it was surprisingly chilly. d

Pulling out a grey jersey that Liena had knitted him for his birthday he pulled it on and decided he wanted one last look at this place. Glancing around to make sure no one saw him, he sprinted towards a large tree directly in front of the café's entrance.

Climbing up to a reasonably high branch he took a long look at the place he had come to call home. It looked ever so inviting, with it's bright curtains trailing out the window and the regulars shovelling down pies and hot chocolates especially with the icy blasts from the wind sending goosebumps up his arms.

"You better not leave." The voice is deep and it startles him so much that he falls off the branch with a loud and ungraceful thump.

He looks up to see Gray towering over him and blinks in surprise. "What are you doing here?"

"You better not leave."

"You're not answering my question. And why shouldn't I leave? Plus aren't you supposed to be gloating? I mean you hate my guts so why should you care?"

"I don't care. You're damn annoying. But Yamato does."

"Hah! Yamato. Gee, good one. Like he'd ca-"

Before he can finish his sentence he finds himself slammed up against the tree, Gray's hands pinning him up against it.

"Don't you ever bloody say that about Yamato again." Gray whispers harshly, his voice sending chills down the younger teens back.

"I may not be some posh shrink but any idiot can tell how much he cares about you! Why do you think he puts up with you? Why do you think he lets you hang around him so much? He even repels me and Terry if we hang around him as much as you do!"

"And you know why he cares about you? Cos you're his friend, his best friend even! Sure you two fight because you're so similar it's scary. So you better get back in there and apologize to him! I mean why the hell would he let a immature, idiotic brat hang around him if he didn't like the immature, idiotic brat?"

"Lemme go!"

"You gonna apologize?"

"…………"

"So?"

"…………….no-yes."

"What was that?"

"Yes, kay? Now lemme go!" Gray loosens his grip ever so slightly and Gannos's fist soars and whacks his chin forcing him stumble backwards. Sure the actual effect wasn't that bad but it was the sheer surprise that had the blonde stepping back.

"That was for telling me that. I'm not a idiot you know," Gannos turns and runs back to the café leaving Gray behind massaging his jaw.

------------------------------------------------

_Knock, knock._

No response.

_**Knock, knock.**_

Still no response.

_**KNOCK, KNOCK.**_

Some sort of response. "Go away, I don't wanna talk to anyone right now."

Gannos sighed. This was definitely harder than he had thought. And the more this was prolonged the more he felt like running away but he quickly reminded himself that it had been his fault had HE needed to apologize.

Still, he wondered if he could've left a note or a phone call instead of doing it in person. After all his ego and pride put together probably took up the space of the whole b-da world and he knew it.

"Oi, open up or I'm gonna blast it open!"

"You! Just fuck off and leave me alone! Shouldn't you be on your jolly way back to whatever hole you crawled out off?"

Gannos is about to retort before he reminds himself that he is going to apologize, not pick another fight. And if he was to apologize he'd have to go through the door, literally.

Picking up his b-damon he held it up to the door and concentrated.

"B-da Fire!!!" The b-da ball flew straight at the door and hit, and just like that there was literally a hole in the door. Of course there were also many wooden splinters lying around with the planks of wood, a squashed Tommy door handle and of course one rather pissed Yamato staring through the newly made hole.

Hopping through it he plopped himself down comfortably on Yamato's bed.

"Yamato?" He can feel himself freezing up again and he tries to remember he has to apologize. Yamato on the other hand, turns around so his back faces Gannos and flips him off casually.

"Yamato?" Still no response, that had to be a bad sign Yamato always babbled on for ages. It was obvious Yamato was not going to talk to him, possibly ever again if he didn't do this right.

"Um….Yamato….look bout earlier it was your fault that you didn't pick a better space and your fault for taking the bait and your fault for winding me up and being too stupid and clumsy to catch your own b-damon but…….." Gannos trails off and takes a gulp. Yamato seems to be listening so far…..

"But I guess it was sort of my fault too that I came to bother you when you were working and that I poked around and didn't listen to you even though you told me to piss off politely and how I annoyed you and got you all bad and I guess when it all comes down to it I was the one who didn't realise that Cobalt wasn't ready and chucked it so….I guess it's not all your fault….for once."

Yamato turns around and glares. "Not all my fault? What the hell are you babbling about? It was all your fault!" At least Yamato was talking to him now.

Gannos glares back, equally stubborn. "Hey, gimme a break will ya? I mean I came all the way back when I could've been going away from this place just to apologize!"

"Apologize?" The word hangs in the air as Yamato realises what the younger rookie has actually been trying to do. Silence rules until soft chuckles break out.

"Huh?" Gannos glances at Yamato who has down buried his head in his pillow.

"Oi! Say something! You dyin or laughin?"

"And you better not be dyin or laughin at me!"

The chuckles grow into full-fledged hysteria as Yamato finally lifts his head out from the pillow. "God, you were trying to apologize?"

"Yah…and what's so funny bout that?"

"Nothing except it's you! And the way you said it!"

"What about me?"

"Just you! You're so….so…..so….Gannos-ish."

"Course I'm Gannos-ish! I'm Gannos stupid."

Yamato opened his mouth to say more but then breaks out in another fit of laughter, using the pillow again to muffle the sounds.

That's when it hits him. Yamato is laughing…laughing not mad. "So…you're not mad at me anymore?" Gannos asks trying to keep the hopefulness out of his voice unsuccessfully.

"Yeah, hell I'm still mad."

"Oh."

"But ya know….I guess when you've got someone like Bull around anything can be fixed…."

"So….umm….can….can…I…..canIstay?" The words rushed out of his mouth like a logs tumbling down a waterfall.

"What?"

"CanIstay?"

"Why the hell are you asking me? It's not like I'm the one in charge of this place, if it's anyone it's Mei!"

"Cos…….so…you won't mind if I do?"

"Course I'm gonna mind, I'll always mind whatever you do! That's just the way things work round here. But you have to stay anyway cos of what you did to my door!" Yamato pointed at the massive hole in the wooden door of his room.

"Hey, don't go blaming all that on me! That wasn't my fault!"

"Not your fault? Who was the moron who blasted a hole through the door huh?"

"That's cos I had to! You being a sulky imbecile wouldn't open the door like a normal person! And I being the nice caring fabulous person I am, was so determined to end your ever-lasting depression that I heroically broke down the barrier between saving you!"

"Who the hell are you kidding? Heroically broke down? More like permanently damaged!"

"EVERYONE! IT'S SNOWING!!!" Liena calls from outside Yamato's window. "C'mon, it's so pretty!"

Both stare dumfounded at each other then eagerly stare out the window at the tiny flakes of whiteness that slowly drift down from the skies.

They share a look then exclaim in unison, "AWESOME!!!"

"This is just like back where I lived!"

"Whatever. But SNOWBALL FIGHT!"

"Yeah, and guess who'd be the victor Ya-ma-to?"

"Me of course, I'm only the B-da Champion who's held onto his title for more than three years!"

"Beep. Wrong answer! The victor will be none other than Gannos the amazing snowball thrower and maker! Prepare to meet your doom Yamato!"

"You wish! I bet I can beat you outside!"

"Then why are you still inside!" Yamato realises that his window is open and Gannos is now standing outside smirking.

"Hey, that's cheating brat!"

"No it's not, I just happen to have brain. Brain spelt B-R-A-I-N cos your non-existent one might not know what I'm talking about."

"Why you!!" The redhead catapults out of the window like a human cannonball and successfully lands right on top of Gannos, knocking him down with an oomph.

"Oww!! Geez, you probably weigh more than Master Armada!!"

"Now, now Gannos, remember to respect your elders!"

"Elders! You wish! You're only older than me by two measly years! I'm more mentally and physical developed and I'm TALLER!!!"

"Fine, you asked for it! The Yamato-double-ultra-powerful-…TICKLE ATTACK!!"

Yamato pounces on top of him and easily forces the younger into a fit of rather un-manly giggles. And Gannos smiles, maybe they'll never get along, they weren't opposites, they were just far too similar to complement each other.

But for now, arguing was good. And right now, it was all Yamato's fault…for making him so damn happy. He had a feeling this was gonna be a really good month, and it was still 24 more days till Christmas.

So send in your entries cos I hope 2 get 24 more up b4 Chrissy!


	2. Frozen: YamatoXCarat

Disclaimer: I don't own anything…

Kay, this is for Dead World's crack pairing of YamatoXCarat…. this is definitely the first of its kind so prepare for something a little different. To be totally honest after writing this I kinda started to like this pairing…

Frozen

Carat Watts hated that particular word. Frozen. It was exactly what it described:

Turned into ice; affected by freezing or by long and severe cold,

Absolutely still and

Devoid of warmth and cordiality, expressive of unfriendliness or disdain.

Unfortunately she thought as she stared out of the window from her private limousine, the same word could still be used to describe her current relationship, if you could call it that with Bull.

It wasn't that she didn't like Bull or anything, in fact she still thought Bull was handsome and brave and all that. It just seemed like all they ever did was hold long conversations made up of her asking him questions about his day and him umming away.

She just wished sometimes that they would do a little more together. Maybe it was rather selfish but she didn't really want lots and lots of attention devoted to her, it would just be nice once in a while for him to tell her she looked nice or even just smile at her instead of his b-damon.

And then there was the multi-personality switching. She liked all sides of Bull, his shy and slightly dopey side, his mature and calm side and his overly energetic and loud side. It was just sometimes she wished he could just stay as one person; she didn't really care which one it was just really awkward at moments. It was like talking to three people all at once and having to decide what would be appropriate.

She had to be really nice to the shy side as he was the sort of person who wouldn't notice he was snoring then apologize at least five times for it before forgetting what on earth he was actually apologizing for and go right back to sleep, rather cute she had always thought.

The mature side was just that – mature, and she had to try very hard around him not to appear silly and immature but she loved the fact that she could talk to him about anything, and he would patiently sit down next to her and listen to her wail on about her problems when he probably had better and more useful things to do.

Loud Bull was exactly the opposite of the shy one. She could say anything and he wouldn't mind a single bit, of course part of this may be because he hardly listened to anyone else but it was great fun being around him. He was loud, amusing and it was never boring around him.

"Ah, Ms Carat I do believe we have arrived." Crust turns around from the driver's seat and peered at her through his spectacles.

There was no response as Carat was so caught up in her thoughts and seemed almost mesmerized by the softly falling flakes.

"Ah, I beg your pardon Ms Carat but we have arrived."

After no response Crust cleared his throat rather noisily for emphasis and Carat turned around, finally recognizing that he wanted to speak.

"Oh, I'm terribly sorry, I was just thinking. Was there something you wanted to tell me?"

Clearing his throat once more, the butler lifted his glasses further up his nose and announced self-importantly, "We have arrived Ms Carat."

"That's wonderful! I can't wait to see everyone!" She exclaimed delighted and clapped her hands together enthusiastically.

"Yes, that will be nice won't it Ms Carat and according to the directions posted by your friends their home is nearby," Crust squinted at the rather wrinkled piece of paper, "Ah, in fact they are right down the end of this road."

The butler turned his attention to the end of the road, which was only a few meters away from where they happened to be currently parked. "Would you like me to accompany you Ms Carat?"

Carat shook her head; her bouncy blonde curls flying carelessly. "Thank you for the offer Crust but I do think I can manage myself," she replied resisting the impulse to roll her eyes.

"Oh, well have a nice time." He replied stiffly, almost as if he was insulted that she didn't his help to walk down a road.

She immediately noticed however and instantly tried to smooth it over. "Of course if I do run into any trouble of any kind I'll make sure to call you first as you are daddy's most trusted employee…"

Instantly the butler seemed to beam from the compliment, "I am honoured, Ms Carat."

Getting out before she could even move, Crust raced over to her door and opened it for her. Smiling and muttering a thank you as she got out, she gingerly stepped onto the fresh snow. "Good bye Crust!"

"Farewell Ms Carat!" He waved before getting back into the vehicle and driving away. "Remember to call your faithful servant anytime you require anything!"

It was nice; she decided that her father had let her stay alone without any servants hired to keep a watchful eye over her. It was definitely a change she decides from how he had used to treat her, as a small child that would be naughty if it wasn't watched over properly.

She was aware of the stares she got from passer-bys as she walked down the street, she knew she was stood out from her cream bolero with the faux fur and matching muff paired with a white knee-length dress with the fluffy petticoats designed to look like a snowflake. Painfully aware she realised as she walked past rows and rows of people wearing simple jeans and knitted jerseys with coats wrapped tightly around them.

Feeling very self-conscious she hurried on, trying to reach her destination wherever that was as soon as possible. Suddenly she felt someone tug on her sleeve and she turned around to see a small child gazing admiringly at her.

"Are you really a princess?" The little girl smiled shyly, clasping her hands behind her back.

"Am I really a princess?" Carat felt herself laugh at the childish tone of it all. "Well, I'm not really…" She saw the little girl's face fall and she immediately amended it. "But you never know, I may be a princess after all and everyone knows that a princess never gives away her true identity…"

"So you are a princess!" The small brunette lifted her head up with a giant smile plastered across her face.

"And you're so…. well pretty I knew you had to be one. You're just like the princesses in the books mamma reads to big brother and me."

"So…. pretty?" Carat found herself staring at the little girl in disbelief.

"Yeah…" Nodding her head softly the brunette glanced at her muff. "I really like the fluffy things on your arms too….you're not ugly like me…"

Not sure what had overcome her, Carat swung her arms around the little girl and hugged her. "You're not ugly…whatever you want to say never…never say that you're ugly because you're beautiful alright?"

"I'm…beautiful? But only pretty people can be beautiful can't they?"

"Everyone is beautiful, including you. Especially you. What is your name?"

"…. my…my name's…Rosie."

"Well Rosie, this is for you." Pulling the muff of her arms she handed it to the bewildered girl who's look then turned to disbelief.

"I…I…I can keep this?"

"Of course you can, now Rosie I have to go now to meet some friends of mine alright?"

"Kay."

Carat had barely walked a few metres when she heard a voice call out, "Wait, what's your name?"

She smiled inwardly, "Carat."

"Oh, bye-bye Princess Carat!"

"Good bye."

--------------------------------------------------

Spotting her friends standing next to the all too-familiar cat mobile she eagerly ran to meet them, all signs of elegance flying out of her head.

"Bull!" She nearly screamed out and rushed towards him, and threw her arms around him. For a moment he hesitated and she felt all the doubts coming back to her but then he slowly put his arms around her too.

"It's…nice…I guess…to see you." He managed to stutter out much to her disappointment. But she put it down as his natural shyness even though she had rather hoped he'd have a little more to say to her.

"Oh, hello there Carat!" Terry's Scottish accent comes over and the blunette waves at her as well. "You're just in time to celebrate this holiday season with the rest of us!"

"You're Carat right?" A brunette boy with a long ponytail bounds over and sticks out his hand. "Saw you once at Neon City right? Well I neva got to properly meet you, nice ta meet you, I'm Wen." He smiles cockily and then jabs his finger at the shorter boy next to him. "And this is Li."

"Ah…. why hello there Ms. Carat!" An orange-haired boy wearing a Viking-styled hat complete with horns rushes over and executes a surprisingly balanced bow.

"Geez, why are you polite to everyone but me?" Yamato, she recognizes moans at the newcomer.

Immediately she is hit by the changes, his hair has calmed down ever so slightly but it still visibly sticks up, he's still wearing those ridiculous goggles which are totally unnecessary but somehow he doesn't look so…so childish.

He almost seems….attractive?

"Well, for starters Ya-ma-to, Carat here happens to be pretty and cute which you aren't! And plus she's probably smarter than you too!"

"Hey, quit thinking about her like that you little perve! Carat happens to be with Bull over there! And quit dragging out my name like that!"

"She is? Well why didn't Bull ever tell us about her, Ya-ma-to?"

"I said quit dragging out my name!"

Carat immediately feels a pang of anger; Bull didn't even tell their friends that they were sort of in a relationship? Even hint that they were slightly more than friends????

Realising that he hasn't said uttered a word of greeting yet Yamato turns to face Carat. "Hey! Haven't seen you for a while, bet you've got heaps to tells us right?"

Finding those intense sapphire eyes directed at her Carat finds herself floundering for a response. "Um…ah…well, not really and I'm sure you have been up to a lot more interesting things."

"Yeah, well we have but you're real interesting as well you know, don't ya think so Bull?"

Bull has already transformed into loud Bull and is babbling on like an idiot. "Ahem, DON'T YOU THINK SO BULL?" Yamato repeats himself loudly and Bull immediately reacts and turns back into the shy Bull.

"Umm………yeah…sort of…" Bull stutters, his face turning red in embarrassment.

"Oh, hello there Carat!" Liena smiles at her and walks over to give her a hug. "It's seems like it has been ages since we saw you! I'm so glad you could come with stay with us for this month!"

Turning her attention to everyone else she waves her arms for attention and surprisingly everyone turns to face her. This is also enforced by the fact that Gray is behind her still managing to look menacing despite wearing a frilly pink apron with batter smudged on his cheeks and nose while holding a wooden mixing spoon.

"Everybody, listen up! Mei's finished cooking so you all better come inside before all her hard work gets wasted!" Liena pauses for a moment then adds a afterthought, "And if you guys don't she said she'd personally come out here to whack you all with that metal spoon, so you better listen to her!"

"Alright, you heard Liena, move it." Gray adds for extra effect and for some reason Carat can't help imagine the siblings as scouts selling cookies.

Everyone hurries in, Bull being one of the first Carat notices and its Yamato who actually waits for her. "Hey, you better come in, otherwise you'll freeze to death you know."

"Oh, right."

"…By the way, you really did that little girl a favour." He remarks as they walk in the entrance and she stares at him for a minute before she realises what he's saying.

"You saw?" She can feel her face getting flushed by the minute and suddenly she feels really awkward.

"Yeah, course. And she was right, you do look nice." He smiles at her and then smirks mischievously, "Just like a princess."

Carat can feel herself sinking deeper into the puddle of embarrassment and she tries hard not to think about the fact that it's Yamato, Bull's friend who is paying the compliment not her sort-of-boyfriend.

"Uh….thank you.." She utters out in the tiniest of voices, her tone reaching a high squeaky pitch at the end of the 'you.'

"I'm not kidding, you looked great. I mean I was almost gonna bet with Gannos that someone would ask you for a autograph or something, cos I'm pretty sure they all think you're some sort of famous celebrity or something."

"Famous celebrity?"

"Yeah, that's what these people would think. Member Carat that most people here have never actually travelled out of this town, yeah, we're that boring here."

"Which is why, I obviously am the star of entertainment here." Yamato grins and strikes a pose and Carat can't help let loose a small giggle.

"I made you laugh! That's a first!" He smiles at her and Carat returns it.

That's when his hand brushes past hers and instantly snaps back to her worried. "Hell, you're freezing Carat!"

"I…am?" Carat never noticed it before but suddenly she can see how pale and bluish her fingertips are and when she places them together how they are almost totally numb.

"Course you are! And you had to be nice and give away that muff to that little girl! The horror! The utter shock! And now, after all you're kind deeds you will be frozen for enternity!" Yamato rolls his eyes dramatically and then his eyes light up mischievously.

"Have you heard the fairytale the Snow Queen?"

Carat vaguely remembers a tale where some sort of evil ice witch kidnaps a young boy and a girl goes after him in hopes of rescuing him. Beyond that she really has no memory. "Yes, but I don't remember too much of it."

"Well, do you know that how Gerda rescues Kay from the coldness in the end?"

"Uh…well, n-"

Before she can finish her sentence she finds Yamato lips pressed gently against her and she almost wants to gasp but realises she can't.

She thinks about pulling away then throws the notion out of her head and presses her lips back against his. Maybe it's wrong to do this, maybe Bull will be upset, maybe Bull really likes her but the world isn't made up of maybes, it's made up of actions not thoughts.

Finally they pull away and the blush spreads all the way across her face and deepens to a crimson shade.

"We better get going or Mei's gonna throw a fit. C'mon, Carat."

"…alright."

"And next time, tell me when you feel cold."

So, ppls plz R&R!!!!


	3. Bells: MieXArmada

Disclaimer: I don't own anything.

Kay, this one is dedicated to Greys-apprentice and the pairing of MeiXArmada

WARNINGS: This has BEAST. This means an animalXhuman pairing so if you feel repulsed at the idea of a 22-year-old woman and a slightly overweight cat please don't read. This is more fun fluff and poking fun at Bull, so please don't take offense if u are a Bull lover..

Bells

Now Armada was a rather patient man-er, cat. Armada had taught himself at a very young age that patience was the key to keeping his cool, instead of throwing a very unlike-B-da Master fit.

And because Armada always stuck to his principles he had managed to tolerate a great number of things.

Armada could tolerate loud noises, whether they were made by over-excited fans of b-da playing in a stadium, the sound of rushing traffic on a motorway, the way neighbourhood alley cats always scrapped it out over last piece of rotting salmon and even when a rather enthusiastic TONEDEAF redhead decided to rip Christmas favourites to pieces.

Armada could tolerate idiocy and ignorance. He could tolerate it when Bull had been watching television and told him after a long thoughtful pause that if there was no such thing as electricity they could watch television by candlelight. He could tolerate it when snobby children laughed at his claim that he happened to be a wise B-da master and even when even more idiotic people claimed that they could invent a b-damon in the blink of an eye.

Armada could tolerate annoying habits, like how he would walk behind Gannos when wassinging even as birds fell down from trees, how Yamato always seemed to wave his arms around and hit someone (e.g. a certain yellow very wise b-da master), how Gray got all furious if a male even looked at Liena and vice versa only Liena got mad when people thought Gray was purposely ignoring them (which Armada had observed that he did tend to ignore everything except for Yamato, Liena, Enjyu and b-da playing) and even when Bull pulled apart a b-damon or another object and couldn't put it back together then smashed it together only to have it fall apart moments later and finally fixing it.

Armada could even tolerate Yamato & Gannos destroying Deck the Halls with Boughs of Holly.

Even when the song sounded like this:

Deck the halls with boughs of holly, falalalalalalalala, and lalalala! Tis the season to be jolly, balalalalalalalalalalala, lalalala! Umm…. time to uh…. find a bunch of lollies, malalalalalalala, lalalala! Uhh…Eat the dog that is called Rolly, ralalalalalalalalalalalalalalalala!!! That's not right Yamato!! Everyone knows you can't eat dogs, and plus Mrs Brown on the next road has a dog called Rolly! Gannos! That isn't in the tune of Deck the balls! It's DECK THE HALLS!! Yeah, whatever! Let's just do the final. So again Gannos! LALALALALALALALALALALALALAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Everyone had to give credit to the tone-deaf duo for being able to hold a note that long.

But there was one thing that even defeated Armada…these things were so evil they only appeared once year…these terrible creations were known as…Christmas Bells.

Armada didn't hate all kinds of bells; after all there were some good bells. Like the ones on the timers that dinged nicely once whatever was in the oven was done…like biscuits, cakes, muffins, pies…the list went on. There were the doorbells; doorbells signified arrivals of mostly decent people like the milkman, the mailman and those nice little girl scouts with their fabulous cookies, in fact the only time it had led him down was when the bill-payer had come to collect his mountain high debt. Of course he no longer had to pay a bill since he was currently freeloading off his student's mother's household. A B-da Master should get some privileges after all. And there were the cowbells, they signified when one of those nasty unclean beasts was going to come near him, a warning for cow droppings basically.

And today he along with every other member of the household had been dragged out by a over enthusiastic Yamato, Gannos, Liena and even Mie to the market to buy 'essential decorations.' Terry wasn't included in this because he had gone back to witness Jou's proper acceptance as the new clan leader and the Yong Fa brothers had departed too, to see family or something.

Of course as fate would have it, instead of looking at multicoloured tinsel, or cute little glass ball ornaments or even those irritating little gnomes or were they elves that said 'Merry Christmas!' when you pushed the button on their shirts; instead all of them headed straight for a rather scary looking bell stand in the outskirts of the market.

"AWESOME!!! LOOK AT ALL THESE BELLS!!!" Yamato had shouted eagerly rushing around like a clumsy moron.

"Yeah, well I bet I can find the biggest bell there is here!" Gannos the slightly smarter idiot had said, looking smugly at Yamato.

"You can not! Cos I'm gonna find the biggest one there is and when I do, I'll prove once and for all that you are moronic rookie!"

"I can so…anyway you're probably not smart enough to spell moronic!"

"I can so spell moronic! M-O-R-R-O-N-I-C! So there!"

"Uh-un. It's spelt M-O-R-O-N-I-C! Hah! Yamato can't spell a seven-letter word! Yamato can't spell a seven-letter word! Yamato can't spell a seven-letter word!"

"Grr…. what does spelling have to do with bell finding anyway! I'll prove you wrong and find that bell!" Yamato races off with Gannos hot behind his trail, and as they run past, a row of large bells fall down and hit some poor old lady on the head and Mie immediately runs over to help.

"Liena, wanna help me look?" Enjyu asks, smirking – Enjyu obviously know that Gray has already started twitching. Twitch, twitch goes that perfectly shaped eyebrow.

Liena smiles back. More agitated twitching. Twitch, twitch – now the head is starting to look up, normally dull aqua eyes suddenly icy and rather scary.

"Sure!" More twitching and death-glaring, now with the dramatic added touch of a clenched fist. Armada is sure that Gray is now chanting a mantra in his mind that goes something like this; 'Must not kill obnoxious bastard flirting with my sister, must no kill obnoxious bastard flirting with my sister.'

Liena walks over and takes Enjyu's hand.

Hand Hand connected holding hands.

Gray has gone on protective brother alert RED. Green for walking a metre away from Liena, Orange for having a conversation with Liena and Red for physical contact with Liena. Contact possible relationship.

Armada grimaces at Gray's expression. He wonders how high the repair bill will be for this stand. At least those dratted bells would be gone though.

Then they walk towards the distance, hands still together and the twitching has reached a minor seizure.

"Hey Gray….?" Bull says, awestruck with a sudden vision of a possible future.

"Yes, what is it?" Gray snaps out but Bull doesn't seem to notice, his eyes gaze contemplatively off in the distance, or is the sun in his eyes? Probably the second one.

"Well…I just noticed….Enjyu and Liena would make a cute couple you know?"

CRASH! That is the sound of a giant bell next Gray being knocked over.

SLAM! That is the sound of Gray's foot slamming into the said METAL ornament.

SHIT! That is the sound of realisation as Gray realises what he has slammed his foot into.

STOMP! That is the sound of Gray stalking angrily off after the 'happy couple.'

"Master Armada…did I say something?"

"Ah…no, of course not Bull. Why don't you go look over for some you like?"

Nodding Bull shuffles off sleepily, straight towards a giant Christmas tree. Armada wonders if he should alert the apprentice mechanic but decides not to. He deserves it for making Gray destroy that $30 bell. Why such an awful thing should be worth that much, he has no idea.

But being a highly productive B-da Master Armada decided to walk off, and sit down to have a banana smoothie that he had bought along. Nothing like a good snack to counter five minutes of slow waddli-walking.

And into two minutes of his relaxation and peace of mind he is suddenly jolted from his paradise containing his milkshake and himself.

"Hey move it you fat cat!"

Armada immediately sits up, well as fast as his body can enable him and glares at the little boy in front of him.

"Do you know who you are talking to?"

"Yeah, sure. The overweight cat that's sitting in the way." The boy replies smugly, folding his arms over his chest.

"Why you little! I am Master Armada, the great B-da Master, who has made countless b-damon, dozens of systems and the great inventor of the Super Ultimate Strike!"

"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!! There is no way a fat cat like you could be the great Master Armada! You sure you aren't crazy or something?"

Armada can feel his blood boiling. Grabbing his staff he hits the child on the head lightly, causing the little boy to fall down. The tough attitude crumbles immediately and the child bursts into tears.

"WAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!"

Immediately a worried mother rushes up to the boy. "Are you okay? What happened? Did someone hurt you?"

Armada decides now is a good time to make a hasty exit. Standing up, he shuffles among the crowd of people and once he is far away from the mother and her idiotic brat he pauses to let out his breath.

That's when he hears it.

"Hey Liena, you heard of mistletoe?"

"Um….yes….why?"

"Well, we're standing under one."

Long pause…. with various smooching sounds. Then an angered roar.

"GET AWAY FROM MY SISTER YOU &(&$$! BASTARD!!"

Armada shakes his head, Wen's creative language has been rapidly influencing everyone.

"Ah…brother! I can explain! It's not Enjyu's fault!"

"HOW IS IT NOT HIS FAULT?!!"

"Well….it wasn't that bad, and I kinda…well, liked it."

Armada can practically hear the smirk radiating from Enjyu.

"YOU WHAT????"

"Hey, you heard what she said….quit making such a big fuss over it blondie."

"WHY SHOULDN'T I BE MAKING A FUSS?!!! YOU JUST CORRUPTED MY SISTER!!"

"Geez, you sound like a jealous chick."

Rustling fabric and the 'What??' of surprise.

Then another smooching sound. Armada's parenting senses tell him the there is possible tongue action.

"There, kissed you too. Happy?"

Stunned silence……a long paused stunned silence.

"WOW……." Bull's voice – the dopey one Armada decides.

"I am sorry for the earlier comment Gray, I didn't know you and Enjyu were together. But of course, now it all makes sense." Bull's voice again – the sensible one.

"RAWR!!!!! THE HOT FIERY PASSION OF TWO YOUNG LOVERS, IT MAKES ME FEEL LIKE SMASHING SOMETHING!!!" Bull's voice – the overly-energetic one.

Then…."YOU BLOODY PERVERT!!!" Gray…again.

"True. But you let me."

"I DID NOT!!"

"You did. Your tongue was in my mouth. How is that not letting me?"

"THAT DIDN'T HAPPEN!"

"I think I can tell if I'm frenching someone blondie."

"THAT WAS STILL YOU'RE FAULT! YOU SHOULDN'T BE GOING AROUND KISSING PEOPLE RANDOMLY!"

"Well, you shouldn't be shouting at the top of your lungs in a public area, but it sure isn't stopping you."

"Ahh…it's alright, you don't have to pretend to hate each other anymore." Sensible Bull.

"Uh-huh…..I'm your friend…" Stupid Bull.

"YES! YOU NOW LONGER HAVE TO HIDE YOUR TRUE LOVE NOW THAT I YOUR FRIEND SUPPORT YOU!"

Armada can practically hear the sweatdrops and there is a clunking sound – Armada assumes that is Liena since she has been awfully quiet and probably has fainted. Probably because she thinks her to-be-boyfriend has been not-really-cheating-on-her-since-they're-not-in-a-relationship was in a actual relationship with her TWIN BROTHER.

"AHH!!! Let go of the stupid bell, I saw it first!" Armada looks up to see…the horror of Gannos and Yamato perched clinging to a massive bell that seems to be hung on the beam that holds this particular stall together.

"NO, YOU DIDN'T! I SAW IT FIRST AND IT'S MINE!!"

"WELL, LET'S B-DA BATTLE FOR THE GIANT BELL!"

"YOU'RE ON!" B-da balls start whizzing around and Armada, not wanting to get crushed when the massive thing fell, slowly moved towards the parting crowd…. only to find himself being dinged on the head with a slightly smaller but probably just as heavy demented bell.

The same one that Gray had kicked.

His head suddenly spinning, Armada clutched onto a display shelf, hoping to steady himself only to have the whole thing collapse onto him.

Trying to move with the shelf stacked on him, Armada suddenly hears footsteps. Someone running.

"Armada! Are you alright?" It's Mei, standing above him, face in worried concern and although Armada knows it is wrong to think of thoughts like this when you wish for help, he can't help notice that the dress Mei is wearing happens to show a LOT of cleavage. Especially from this angle.

"Hello? Armada? I SAID ARE YOU ALRIGHT?"

"…ah, ah….yes! I'm … …fine. Just get this ……really…heavy…shelf….off me…"

"Oh, of course." Mei yanks it off with ease, must be coming from being YAMATO's mother.

"Here, need a hand?" She asks, and stretches out her hand. I grasp it gratefully with my paw and yank myself up slowly, using it as a balance.

Then we stand and stare at each other. Silence.

I stare at her, she stares at me. We're still staring at each other. Then she clears her throat and I almost detect a blush? No, it's probably these stupid Christmas lights with their colours.

She clears her thoat. "Ahem."

It takes me a while to realise the appropriate response, "Ah…sorry, thank you for helping me."

"It's alright you know, you're welcome. I'm always glad to help a friend out."

More silence. More looking, blushing/overheating increase and we shuffle closer together.

"Ah….um, thank you again."

"You're welcome."

More looking, shuffling closer.

Then….CRASH!!

We all look up as the stall starts collapses, the central beam falling down with Yamato and Gannos still on it hugging the giant bell.

"YAMATO!!!!! GANNOS!!!!!!! THIS IS COMING OUT YOUR ALLOWANCE!"


	4. Card: Enjyu Centered

Disclaimer: I don't own anything

Kay, this is a Enjyu-centered oneshot. I watched this episode and just tied it in with the Christmas theme. Anyway, I'm experimenting with different styles and figure I kinda liked this one. No pairings, and SPOILERS for season 2. No major spoilers, eg. who won the tournament, bad guys, just a character that is involved with Enjyu gaining his strike shot.

**Card**

It's easy to fall into a pattern, harder to fall out of a pattern.

I guess I've fallen into one again.

Not sure how, just that it's happened.

It's a different pattern though, it's nice and peaceful but somehow…boring.

Uneventful. Unexciting. NORMAL.

The horror. I've become a normal teenager.

Something I've always wanted when I was a kid.

To be a normal kid.

To have normal parents.

To live in a normal house.

It was a dream.

Now I am a normal teenager.

I don't have parents, but I have Liena – probably my best friend and Terry – my sort-of friend and occasional therapist.

I don't live in a normal house, I currently live in a mobile cat shaped caravan that doubles as a café.

But despite all that, I'm normal.

Not normal like the way Yamato is. Not like Liena.

But for the first time, I fit in.

Somehow, fitting in is like a empty candy box. Nicely wrapped up with a ribbon, but empty inside.

Boring. Unfulfilled.

Sometimes, just sitting here on the verandah, I almost wish for the NSA days. Almost.

Today is no different.

I wake up.

I brush my teeth and take a shower.

I walk downstairs with a towel loosely wrapped around me.

Not sure if it slips off or not. Probably. Gray explodes with a speech on human modesty and decency.

I tell him he shouldn't be looking then and he turns interesting shade of red.

I sit down and wrap it around me properly as Liena comes in. She waves and smiles at me. Morning person. Gray glares protectively at me, as usual.

She hands out breakfast. Yamato and his mini-me dig in energetically. Mei scolds them for bad table manners. Halfway, Terry comes in from meditation and eats with us. He says good morning and I give a half-hearted nod.

He smiles back; he thinks this is an amazing achievement. That I can sort of smile at him every morning. I personally don't think I'm that retarded.

I finish eating. I pick up my plate and throw it into the sink. Perfect shot. Yamato tries to mimic it and his plate cracks. Mei throws a fit. I leave quietly.

I go outside and sit down, hands behind head, leaning against the verandah. There is still litter from last night's customers. I contemplate picking them up but I decide not too.

It's cool and I rest, one hand on the wooden floor, one hand still tucked around my b-damon.

Then the call. "Alright everybody, time to move out!" I pick myself up and go inside.

The others are waving good-bye and taking a last look at this town. I don't bother, it's just another town. Another day, another town.

We travel along. I sit inside and stare at Gray. Gray gets unnerved, badly and threatens me. For what? I say. Looking at you?

He sits back down annoyed, and I am reminded again how such a person can be related to calm, helpful Liena. Well, the bad traits had to go somewhere, but it's not like Gray doesn't have any good traits either.

He's different. Maybe that's why I don't like him. He has his own ideas…that clash horribly with mine.

I leave. I don't want him to throw something at me. Not because I can't defend myself, because I don't want to cause Mei's property any damage.

She lets everyone stay here, the least I can do is make sure nothing is damaged on my account.

I sit in my room and study my b-damon for the millionth time. I note the tiniest chips and what could be possibly improved. I repeat the activity three times to make sure I'm not missing anything.

Terry comes in. We make idle conversation. Today's topic is Christmas Cards. He asks if I have anyone I want to send anything to.

Obviously not. And I say that. Terry looks almost sympathetically at me and then a light bulb practically lights up over his head.

"What about your parents? Your mother and father?"

My parents aren't even legally married. They were a one-night stand. My mother got pregnant, couldn't deal with it and left me with my father. My father cared for me for about the first four years of my life then fell in depression and decided to cure himself by getting drunk everyday. Then he died last year.

I tell him that and Terry turns a flustered shade of red. I'm so, so sorry Enjyu! I didn't know! He squeaks out embarrassed.

Don't worry, I say. I didn't even notice until I read in the newspaper about a drunk getting hit by a car.

Terry looks utterly shocked. I leave, I don't need sympathy – especially not the 'I will always be there for you speech.'

More bumps as we cover more terrain. Terry doesn't give the speech. He nods quietly and places his hand over mine.

I wonder if I should shake it off. I don't. Terry would be hurt if I did and Terry is too emotional for his own good.

The arrival call. "ATTENTION EVERYONE!!!!! We have reached our destination! Yamato, Terry and….Wen! You three are on waiter duty! Everyone else can leave to explore!"

There is yelling and a series of arguments following the above statement.

I leave via the window. I jump out and survey this town. I don't know it's name but it looks like one with fans. Lots of fans….from the amount of people crowding around the caravan's entrance.

I climb back in and grab a simple purple hood Liena made for me. For those Red Thunder times, she had said reminding me of my alternate personality I had created for b-da battling.

The fans attack Yamato and the others, and I can practically see their sweat…. from about 100m away. Rule 1: Always put space between self and fangirls/boys. Fans are dangerous.

I leave and walk aimlessly through the town. It's a market day, I presume from the crowds of stalls and people. Until I see the merchandise.

They're selling equipment and fan merchandise for b-da fans. I walk up to the nearest stall, where a man is selling caps with the word B-Coliseum and several signatures on them. Rip-offs.

"What's going on." It's a statement and the man gulps.

"Well…ah…well, it's a tournament day and the famous Protector's in the competition…so ah, would you like a cap? Are you a fan? It promises to be a great day, perfect for fan-viewing an-"

"These are rip-offs." I throw one aimlessly at the space between his left ear and leave.

I ask a few more people. Same response. Protector. B-Coliseum. Tournament.

Finally I give in. Might as well go see this great Protector, probably another rookie with a nice costume.

The B-Coliseum is completely filled but I stand at the back. The view's better anyway. Some chick is the announcer, pink hair, cowgirl outfit, complete with sheriff's badge. I think I've seen her somewhere. Probably on some billboard.

"LADIES AND GENTLEMEN!!! MAY I PLEASE WELCOME YOU TO TODAY'S TOURNAMENT! LET'S ALL SHOW OUR SUPPORT FOR THESE B-DA PLAYER'S, LET'S GIVE THEM A ROUND OF APPLAUSE!!" Her mike booms out a full volume.

Immediately, the rows fill with applause.

Then she raises her hand and all falls silent. "Now, today we have a special guest, a winner of several different tournaments around the globe and possible future WINNER'S Champ, let's welcome the PROTECTOR!!!"

The applause is deafening and he focuses his eyes. A blurry figure appears and I am suddenly hit with memories that I had long buried since becoming normal.

_'Hi, I'm Kevin and what's your name?'_

_'Oh, you should be well enough to get out of bed by now.'_

_'Gee, it seems like I'll never hit the target…'_

_'Wow….you're a great b-da player!'_

_'Are you going to participate in the Winner's Tournament?'_

_'Will there be many strong players like you?'_

_'Alright, come back in time for our lesson!'_

_'Wait! Stop! Don't hurt him!'_

_'Why did you have to do it?'_

_'You…. you're nothing but a big jerk!'_

It can't be him…. but then maybe it can.

It's the same long blonde hair that hangs limply from his back.

It's the wristbands and shoes.

It's even the same outfit, the cream one sleeved tunic.

The only thing that I can't see is his face. It's hidden in a helmet…a very familiar helmet. One that could've only belonged to one robot.

One long-destroyed robot.

Kevin. Or should I call him the Protector now.

I stand back and watch. His technique has improved, not enough to beat me, but enough to make him a formidable opponent.

The childish hesitation to fight is gone, replaced by a strong sense of determination.

Anger fuels his energy.

He plays….he plays like I used to.

Confused.

Angry.

Scared.

He's strong, but he doesn't know how to use it.

It doesn't really matter here, all contestants are masked and they're all a bunch of rookies.

He can win shooting aimlessly with ease.

I watch the first round.

I watch the second round.

I watch the third round.

Then the fourth.

Then the semi-finals.

Then the quarterfinals.

I might as well not have watched. They all go the same way. He shoots, firing multiple shoots randomly, then gets lucky and advances.

No talent. Just luck and raw power.

This is stupid.

The finals are up.

Protector against some guy who calls himself Kaitou.

Both can talk better than they can play.

This is stupid. The kid's not going to get any better the way he is right now.

ALL RIGHT EVERYONE!! LET'S TAKE A QUICK BREAK BEFORE OUR EXCITING FINAL MATCH!!!

People file to go for toilet breaks and to get food.

Announcer girl sits down and I walk down from the bleachers.

She looks up, her curls bouncing freely. "Hey there, isn't this exciting?"

"I want a match with the protector."

She smiles sympathetically. "Sorry, unless you get Kaitou to step down for you, we're done for the day."

"Players."

"Oh, they're in the waiting room but you know how b-da players are! They get all touchy before the big match so try not to bother them to much."

I nod. If it's anything, it's me that's touchy.

The waiting room is actually three rooms connected together by sliding doors.

The first has a middle-aged receptionist with a clipboard and desk, the registration room.

The second has spare b-da parts and several lockers where spares can be kept.

The third is obviously the waiting room. There are several b-da players moaning about their losses.

Protector is not here. Probably meditating for his final match.

Kaitou is though. Surrounded by his groupies he brags about his wins in the tournament.

Too bad he's not going to play in the final round.

I walk in and drag him outside by his arm, much to the protest of his friends.

What was that all about? Kaitou asks angrily.

You're going to give up your place in the final for me.

No way! He answers and turns to go back in.

I block his path. B-da battle for it.

Sure! He says confidently.

B-da Fire! He screams out loudly and fires five in one go. I dodge all easily.

I fire one shot and it hits.

I win. You forfeit for me.

Now way! You just got a lucky shot! I had to work hard to get to where I was now! He protests.

I sigh and pull off my hood.

Look. Heard of Red Thunder?

There is a flash of recognition in his eyes. He takes a step back. Bet all of that stuff is a myth, I mean I bet you've never killed anyone or destroyed anything! He stutters out bravely.

Idiot.

I whip out a switchblade and push it against his throat. You sure you don't want to forfeit your match?

He faints.

That's a forfeit.

The stadium is beginning to fill up again and I pull down my hood.

Announcer girl runs up to me. Too bad you can't participate huh?

He forfeited.

Yes, yes, I know, I'm terribly sorr- what? HE FORFEITED?? Oh, wait, how should I introduce you?

Re-Thunder. Thunder.

LISTEN UP EVERYONE! FOR OUR FINAL MATCH KAITOU HAS FORFEITED IN THE PLACE OF A NEWCOMER! LET'S GIVE IT UP FOR OUR FINAL CONTESTANTS, PROTECTOR AND THUNDER!!!

This is again blared out in deafening volume.

There are a few protests. Hey! That's not fair! Yeah, that guy didn't even fight during the preliminaries! I bet he's bribing that other guy or something!

They are shut up by a rather intimidating alligator wearing a business suit with shades.

We walk on and take our places.

ALL RIGHT B-DA PLAYERS! FOR OUR LAST MATCH WE WILL HAVE A DIRECT HIT BATTLE! LET'S START…..NOW!

The mike screeches at the 'NOW' and several front-row fans block their ears.

He shoots.

Five b-da balls at once.

I dodge.

He shoots again.

Five b-da balls at once again.

I dodge again.

His eyebrow twitches.

Apparently I'm supposed to be defeated by now. It hasn't happened and isn't going to.

He starts to yell out some sort of battle cry.

The cry uses lots of yelling of unrecognizable words. Only word I understand is Ludo. I think that was his robot.

He shoots, elbows bent, legs straight and focus completely off.

The ball flies towards me, about two metres from my current position.

I stand there and he watches it fly past.

He tries again.

Yell, shoot, miss.

And again.

Yell, shoot, miss.

Repetition is boring me. I pick up my b-damon and shoot.

I hit the target with one shot.

He flies back with the force and nearly lands on a far-too-close-for-your-own-good fan.

There is applause and more shouting. I bet that guy cheated! WOW! That was a awesome battle! If the Thunder guy's that good, how come I've never heard of him before? Next time I wanna b-da battle, I'm gonna wear a purple cape! Ohmigod, I bet he is so damn fine! How do you know it's a he? You can just see red hair and a purple cape! That's my hawt single guy sensor going off! Last time you said that the guy turned out to be ENGAGED!

I turn and leave before he gets back up.

Wait! How did you defeat me that easily?

No technique.

Whaddya mean? I have great technique!

You're never going to defeat any first-rate players.

I merge with the crowd when I hear him yell, come back you!

I leave.

When I arrive back the tables are being set up for the dinner customers.

I walk inside through the open door and into the kitchen.

As predicted, Terry and Liena are inside making lists.

Cards are scattered around and different rolls of patterned wrapping paper.

I take a card.

Terry raises an eyebrow. I thought you didn't have anyone to send anything personal to?

I don't. I'm sending training tips.

I go back to my room and take out a thick black pen.

I scribble messily on it and then hand it back to Liena who is putting them in envelopes.

Who is it for?

I want you to send it to the Protector.

Who?

Some rookie. B-da tips.

Cute giggle. Wow Enjyu, now you're lecturing rookies?

Suppose so.

Kay, Terry can you look it up in the directory? Protector fan mail?

I nod and leave.

I go sit out on the verandah again and watch as the last customers leave.

I look up and I can see the stars twinkling, and out of the corner of my left eye, I see **the **star.

The star.

_"Wow….the stars sure are pretty aren't they?"_

_"Yeah…."_

_"Hey Cornell, did you ever see a shooting star?"_

_"….no, why ask kid?"_

_"Well…cos once someone told me that when you see one you can make a wish on it and I'll come true!"_

_"Most of the time we don't see them."_

_"I guess that means some people don't get to make wishes."_

_"Look kid, we can just make a wish on that one, kay?"_

_"Really? Can I start?"_

_"Whatever you want."_

_"Well…I wish that even if you go away and never come back that you'll always be there to help me!"_

_"I…hope so too."_

And as it twinkles above me, I wonder if the kid can see it too.

----------------------------------------------------------------------

**Somewhere in a small village inn…(About 2 days later)**

Hey! You're the Protector right? Enthusiastic mail boy.

Hmm? Oh yeah. Not so enthusiastic b-da player a.k.a ME.

Well, here's your fan mail! Enthusiasm drops rapidly for b-da player.

Thanks! Enthusiasm rises rapidly for mail boy and mail boy leaves.

I open the first one.

Fangirl. Wants a date.

Fanboy. Wants to know if I can be his honorary big brother. He is planning to disown his actual brother.

Fangirl. Wants to be pregnant with my child.

Genuine fan. Wishes me a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Fangirl. Wishes to store me in a little box for preservation.

Local I Helped Along The Way. Wishes to thank me for bringing in lots of customers.

Fangirl. Wants my shoe size and an old sock.

Fangirl. Wishes to clone me so she can have a extra copy of me.

Flamer. Gives explicit detail on how I should burn in the fiery depths of hell.

Fangirl. Wants to marry me, has included a ring.

Genuine fan. Congratulates me on my b-da battles. Does not mention encounter with Thunder.

Local I Helped Along The Way. Asks me if I can come by for a gift she wants to give me.

Flamer. Gives explicit detail on how "Insert b-da player's name" is so much cooler, better, hotter, etc than me.

Small typical Christmas card with a snowman on it.

I open it.

**1) Keep elbows straight. **

**2) Bend knees**

**3) Focus on opponent. **

**Take my advice; you won't ever beat me if you don't. I thought you'd be a better opponent. Guess that was wishful thinking. **

I suddenly take in a sharp breath.

Only one person…only one person.

Enjyu.

_"Wow….the stars sure are pretty aren't they?"_

_"Yeah…."_

_"Hey Enjyu, did you ever see a shooting star?"_

_"….no, why ask kid?"_

_"Well…cos once someone told me that when you see one you can make a wish on it and I'll come true!"_

_"Most of the time we don't see them."_

_"I guess that means some people don't get to make wishes."_

_"Look kid, we can just make a wish on that one, kay?"_

_"Really? Can I start?"_

_"Whatever you want."_

_"Well…I wish that even if you go away and never come back that you'll always be there to help me!"_

_"I…hope so too."_

I look up to see a star twinkling above my room's window.

I back down at the card and slightly bitter smile can't help appearing.

Guess he did keep his promise after all.

Plz R&R!!!


End file.
